


P.S. I Like You

by Pippinpaddleopsicopolis (Barnable)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Flirting, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, Insecurity, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Online Romance, POV Sokka (Avatar), Romantic Fluff, Sokka is an Awkward Otter Penguin, Texting, The Jasmine Dragon (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) Has a Lisp, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27040741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barnable/pseuds/Pippinpaddleopsicopolis
Summary: Sokka flirts with a cute boy from his online class and sort of gets asked on a date.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 119
Kudos: 633





	P.S. I Like You

> **_shibataz replied Sept 22, 2020 10:42 P.M. to Kuliktana Discussion Board 4_ **
> 
> _I really enjoyed your explanation of this experiment. I’ve never been much of a science guy myself and reading your post was really helpful for writing my own. Your point about retrying this test every six months was interesting, I wouldn’t have thought of it myself, but it makes sense that you’d want to keep up to date with it in case something changes. Thanks for sharing your thoughts._
> 
> _P.S. I like your nail polish. :)_

Sokka glanced down to his fingernails for the fourteenth time since he’d clicked the notification. They were chipped but still glossy, their pale blue color sparkling beneath his bedroom light. He hadn’t even thought about it when he took the picture for class, just snapped the selfie as quick as he could so he could get the assignment over with, but they did stand out. To one person, at least.

He didn’t know who Zuko was beyond his writing style and the lizard in his profile picture, but he knew that he was beautiful. Sokka hadn’t once paid attention to who he was responding to up until that point—he was bullshitting the assignments for points, no lie—but the moment he clicked on Zuko’s post and saw the picture he’d attached, Sokka’s heart skipped a few beats.

Though Sokka’s picture was taken close up, Zuko’s must’ve been taken by someone else as he was seated a few feet away from the camera. He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of a bamboo wall; the required test tube in his right hand and lizard crawling around on his knee. His messy black hair was dragged back into a ponytail, though much of it fell out and along with a second lizard on his shoulder, hid the left side of his face. His eyes were a deep shade of amber but twinkled in the stream of light which must’ve come from a window; his baggy red sweatshirt and dark washed jeans covering most of his skin.

Given that he was meant to be studying, Sokka spent far longer staring at the picture than he had any right to. He hadn’t even read the post yet, just kept his eyes on the picture until he realized how much time passed and acknowledged that he wouldn’t be getting anything done. Sokka intended to log off right then, to take a break and return to respond to posts later, and that was when he saw the notifications. Responses on his own post.

It wasn’t that Sokka was vain so much as that he was confident in his abilities, so he opted to stop for a pick-me-up and read the responses on his post before he took his break. He didn’t expect a response from the pretty boy much less a compliment, and again, he found himself frozen in his place. Sokka bit down on his lip, picking at the loose nail polish around the base of his thumb as he clicked on the “reply” button. It took him a good fifteen minutes, but he managed to find the right words to say.

> **_kuliktanas replied Sept 23, 2020 4:21 P.M. to Kuliktana Discussion Board 4_ **
> 
> _Thank you for the kind response! I’m glad that reading my explanation could help you write your own._
> 
> _P.S. Thanks, I liked your lizards. ;)_

Given that he’d responded nearly a full day after, Sokka didn’t expect a response any time soon, but he hoped there would be something. He checked back that night, looking to see if pretty boy said anything else, but he didn’t. He didn’t say anything that night, he didn’t say anything the day after that, and when midnight on the third evening rolled around, the discussion board was locked and Sokka was left knowing he’d never get an answer.

It made sense, of course. Zuko probably only added the extra comment to be nice or condescending and it wasn’t like he would get any points for a reply to a reply, so it was stupid that Sokka ever thought he might reply in the first place. But that didn’t stop him from being a little disappointed when he went to bed that night or getting excited each time he saw Zuko post something after that—no matter how mundane or academically boring a post it was.

There was something about the way Zuko wrote that was charming. Not in the same way that Sokka’s was different from most—admittedly, he still wrote in Inuktitut more than English, and it was easy to tell when he forgot what word he was looking for—but sweet, blunt, and danced around the point a little bit. He had a slight quirk with his writing too, a few more typos than most, but Sokka didn’t mind. The text box didn’t have a spellcheck anyway, so it probably wasn’t really his fault.

After that first response, Sokka desperately wanted to say something else to Zuko, but there never seemed to be a good time. Sending him a private message seemed too up front but trying to talk to him through a discussion board didn’t seem like a great idea either. So, rather than actually doing anything, he didn’t. He admired from afar, responded to every one of his initial posts—he had to respond to three people anyway, he figured—and then finally, _finally,_ three full weeks later, their professor requested they share another picture with their homework.

“Hey, have you seen my— what are you doing?” Katara stopped dead in the doorway, leaning against it and smirking when Sokka nearly leapt out of his desk chair. He dropped his comb back onto the table, his eyes wide when he turned to look at his sister. “You going on a date or something?”

“What? No!” He shook his head quickly, glancing over to his screen. Thankfully, he’d already closed out the tab with Zuko’s picture on it. “No, I just have to take a picture for my class, and I figured I’d try and look halfway decent for it.”

“Right, okay. Pretty girl in your class?”

“ _No_ , Katara. Leave me alone.”

“…pretty boy?”

“Oh, my god. Get out!” Sokka could already feel his face warming up when he grabbed a handful of highlighters to throw at his sister. She laughed and walked back out of the room, leaving him to finish taking his selfie. “All right, Sokka. Don’t fuck this up.”

He reached out to take his glasses off before the picture but stopped when he saw the little red dot light up on his screen. Sokka didn’t intend to click but couldn’t help himself from smiling when he realized that the post was from Zuko. As hard as he tried, it was impossible to resist, and he clicked on the link and scrolled past the homework to see the picture that Zuko attached with it. Somehow, he managed to be even cuter than the first time.

Zuko was turned away from the camera, his right side facing the front and his left side blocked by his hair and the angle just like it was before. In his hands, he held the little results sheet and the experiment as required, but there was also a little lizard on the back of his hand which was most _definitely_ not part of the assignment. The most notable part of the picture to Sokka was, however, the fact that Zuko was wearing glasses this time. They were a little clunky and square and a shining shade of black, but they fit perfectly on his face—or at least, the half that Sokka could see.

Though he hadn’t intended to change up his ways, Sokka opted to keep his own round, silver glasses on for his picture. Sure, they were a tad dorky and Katara liked to joke about them, but if nothing else, they’d give Zuko an opening to respond when Sokka inevitably complimented his glasses. He took one last look at Zuko’s picture, admiring his soft black sweater, the top of his dark gray sweatpants, and his unreasonably beautiful messy bun. Only for a moment did his thoughts linger on Zuko’s small smile before he grabbed his own camera and experiment and set himself up for the shot.

It wasn’t perfect but Sokka wasn’t perfect either and he decided that it was good enough to post. He pasted in whatever scientific babbles he’d written while doing the experiment—after a brief editing session, because he had a history of forgetting words, writing them in Inuktitut as a placeholder, and not remembering to fix it later—and shot his punch. Or rather, hovered over the “submit” button for a full five minutes and _then_ posting it because pretty boy or not, he cared about his grades and held far more anxiety in posting on a public forum than he cared to admit.

The moment his homework was posted and his ability to respond unlocked, Sokka went back over to Zuko’s post and smashed the “reply” button. His eyes glanced up to Zuko’s picture for several long seconds before he typed out his message, added a little note on the end, and promptly erased the entire thing and started over again. Not once had Sokka ever actually sent a post immediately after typing it out, and even with a really beautiful classmate involved, he couldn’t risk his grade, nor could he silence his nerves. He typed it all over again.

> **_kuliktanas replied Oct 15, 2020 4:21 P.M. to Shibata Discussion Board 7_ **
> 
> _I enjoyed reading your perspective on this week’s assignment. I think it was really interesting that you decided to try your tests on a series of tea leaves rather than ones from a tree or a bush like our professor suggested. The results you showed were fascinating in contrast to those of us who used the recommended sources, and it made it a lot more fun to learn about._
> 
> _P.S. I like your glasses. :D_

It took another minute of convincing to get himself to actually post the message, but once he did, his heart began to race. He did it. He gave Zuko the _perfect_ opening to respond with, “I like your glasses too”, or something along those lines. It was the easiest, most perfect test to determine whether anything was meant by his initial comment. If Zuko didn’t respond, then he was just being nice. If he only said, “thanks”, then he was just being nice. But if he responded with the answer Sokka _thought_ he would answer with, then he was probably trying to compliment more than just Sokka’s nails.

Speaking of those nails, they suffered a lot as Sokka obsessively refreshed the page. Okay, so he wasn’t obsessively refreshing the page so much as checking his notifications every few minutes as he went through his homework, but still. He picked at his nail polish, chewed at his thumb, and convinced himself that it was because of school-related anxiety and not anything to do with the fact that he was waiting on a response from a very, _very_ pretty boy. After all, he was closing in on several deadlines.

After too many hours of homework, a mildly entertaining dinner with his family, and a brief nap at his desk, Sokka finally got the alert he was looking for. Replies on his post. The first was on a completely unrelated post for a completely unrelated engineering class but the second one was perfect. Well, actually, Sokka had no idea what it said because the little notification blurb didn’t show what he actually wanted to read, but he clicked fast and scrolled with such speed that he made it to the post within seconds, a stupid grin on his face when he saw Zuko’s little lizard profile picture.

> **_shibataz replied Oct 15, 2020 10:55 P.M. to Shibata Discussion Board 7_ **
> 
> _Blah blah blah science stuff. Blah blah blah things Sokka can’t be bothered to read because he needs to see if the cute guy likes his glasses. Blah blah blah something that’s probably bullshit anyway because no one actually likes these assignments. Blah blah blah why do they always have such a high required word count nobody wants to read or write that. Blah blah blah._
> 
> _P.S. Thank you, I liked your sweatshirt. :)_

The face Sokka made was not immediately one of glee. Instead, he was confused. Sweatshirt? He hadn’t even _thought_ about his sweatshirt, all he did was put on his glasses and fix up his hair. What sweatshirt was he even wearing? He glanced down to his chest, his eyes going wide when he realized that he was wearing his embarrassingly worn out, grey cropped hoodie. At that point, the colors were so faded that you could barely see the previously bold bisexual pride colors which wrapped around it were almost pastel. He slapped a hand to his forehead. Rookie mistake.

Or was it?

Sure, there was a chance that Zuko was still just being nice, but there was _also_ a chance that he recognized the bisexual pride flag and was trying to say something without publicly outing him to people who might not know. Sokka stroked his chin thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes at the screen and shooing away his dad when he came in to tell him to head to bed soon. He was legally an adult. He could make his own terrible decisions to stay up all night debating whether a pretty boy thought he was cute or not.

And that was exactly what he ended up doing, of course. He finished up the last of his homework, stared at Zuko’s post for a few more minutes, and then flopped into bed and thought about it until he finally fell asleep at some point around four in the morning. At that point, he realized he had only two choices. He could either respond to Zuko’s post and say something vague to keep the chain going or send him a private message. Which was terrifying because they hadn’t actually said anything to each other aside from scientific babbles and shallow compliments, but he was _so fucking pretty_. So, that meant he was basically stuck going with the first option.

The only problem was that Sokka was terrible with words. _Terrible_. So, when he tried to send something—no, not even send it, just _type_ it—it always ended up coming out so horribly awkward that he couldn’t possibly post it. One time, Katara came into his room when he wasn’t paying attention and laughed so hard at his Word doc of sticky notes that she laughed until she cried. He just threw up a finger in her direction and claimed they were a work in progress, “on the occasion that he happened to meet someone.” He wasn’t ready for her to know about Zuko yet. Not until he figured out whether they were really flirting, or he was just reading into it.

Unfortunately, he spent too long thinking about it, and by the time Sokka _finally_ came up with a response he was okay with (very clever, references the bisexual colors, subtly questions whether Zuko recognized them), the discussion board was locked. He missed out on his opportunity and if he didn’t want to be weird, he would probably have to wait until their teacher assigned another photo to say anything else. Sokka slammed his head into the table. That was not how he was intending things to happen, but it wasn’t like there was much he could do about it, so he waited. And waited. And waited some more because his teacher didn’t give them another experiment until three weeks later.

As generally happened, Sokka was running a few days behind with his homework and didn’t actually see what it was until he clicked onto the discussion boards and found a post by Zuko with an image attached. His eyes went wide, and he scrolled past all the experiment stuff, too focused on seeing what he was wearing or how many lizards he had on his person that day. When he actually opened the image, however, he found himself not looking at Zuko at all; his gaze caught by something entirely different in the background.

Just like the two times before, Zuko was wearing black pants and a slightly baggy sweater, his feet bare and his long dark hair and glasses covering the left side of his face (which was also turned to look down and away at a lizard climbing toward his experiment in front of him). The difference in the background, on the other hand, was significant. Rather than a bamboo wall, Zuko was seated on his bed, behind which was hanging a very familiar, very bright gay pride flag. Sokka gripped onto his mouse, nodding slowly, and making a face at the screen. Yep. That was a pretty damn clear sign.

He rushed through the rest of his assignment so he could unlock the ability to respond to Zuko’s post, barely paying attention to how he looked in his picture and having to take it again when he noticed half his experiment was left out of frame. As soon as it was uploaded, he typed out his post and pasted it into the school website, editing it three or four times because he was totally unfocused and made a significant number of typos. But once that was corrected, it was time. Sokka took a deep breath, clicked the reply button on Zuko’s post, and took the plunge.

> **_kuliktanas replied Nov 5, 2020 5:30 P.M. to Shibata Discussion Board 10_ **
> 
> _I thought your analysis on the experiment was very interesting. Looks like one of your lizards thought so too, ha ha. I like the perspective you took on it by deciding to go outside, I think most of us stayed inside and that definitely changes the results of the test, especially since you mentioned having a lot of sunlight in your town. Thanks for sharing your thoughts._
> 
> _P.S. Is it okay if I DM you? :P_

It was a bold move. It was a very, very bold move and the moment he sent the message, Sokka ripped his hands away from the computer and moved to chew on his thumbnail. His heart was racing stupidly fast considering all he’d done was ask a question, and it was ridiculous that he was already moving to refresh the page not one minute after he posted. He just needed to know. He needed to know badly, and it was eating away at him. Refusing to succumb to it, Sokka closed his laptop, shoved his chair back, and headed out for dinner.

The meal was great, particularly Katara’s homemade bannock, but it wasn’t enough to get his mind off the discussion boards. There was every chance that Zuko would tell him “no” and he’d have an awkward as hell next six weeks, and there was also every chance that he would say yes and then Sokka would have to come up with an all new pickup line, preferably which didn’t make Katara burst out laughing (because, as annoying as that reaction was and as much as he refused to admit to it, he did trust his sister’s judgment and if she said it was bad, it was definitely bad).

After dinner, Sokka headed back into his room and flopped into his desk chair, sighing when he realized he didn’t get a response yet. That meant he was going to be stuck working on his homework, without so much as a hint as to what the pretty boy might say. He sighed, chewing lamely on his thumb as he turned to work on some boring essay for a required English class. It was lame and wordy and annoying to write but it kept him distracted for _just_ long enough that by the time he checked his notifications again, the response had been sitting there for nearly an hour. His eyes widened and he clicked on it in a heartbeat.

> **_shibataz replied Nov 5, 2020 11:21 P.M. to Shibata Discussion Board 10_ **
> 
> _Blah blah blah, sorry pretty boy but Sokka had to scroll past your homework to get to the important stuff. Blah blah blah, Zuko sounded just as bored here as Sokka did writing that essay earlier. Blah blah blah, why does their professor demand they write so many words about so much nothing? Blah, blah, blah, oh, he finally found the end of the paragraph so he can see what Zuko said. Blah blah blah._
> 
> _P.S. Yes. :)_

The grin on Sokka’s mouth was involuntary, as was the hand that clapped over it. He let out a soft chuckle as he read the word over and over again, a little hung up on the cute little smiley Zuko left after each one of his responses. Once he got past the initial shock, Sokka hovered over Zuko’s profile picture and clicked on the little pop-up for private messaging, biting down on the corner of his lip. He still couldn’t stop smiling. He was going to talk to the pretty boy. They were going to have an actual, real conversation. That was when it hit him that he had to actually _start_ the conversation.

“Katara!” He was quiet when he knocked on his sister’s door, knowing she was still up but not wanting to wake their dad. When Katara didn’t immediately respond, Sokka knocked faster, hissing her name again. “Katara, I need your help.”

“What?” Katara was already dressed in her pajama pants and a tank, raising a brow as leaned against the doorway. It was obvious that Sokka didn’t need anything seriously urgent, and thus she was just as tired of his shit as always. “Sokka, it’s almost midnight. You should go to bed.”

“No, wait. Hold on.” Sokka slammed a hand on her door before she could close it on him, his eyes wide. “Theoretically, if someone from my class wanted to talk to me over DMs and I wanted to talk to him too, how might I open that conversation without sounding like an absolute idiot?”

“Well, are you working on a project or are you flirting with him?”

“Flirting. A little. Sort of. It’s unclear. That’s what I’m trying to figure out! Can you just tell me how to start a conversation without coming off like I’m an absolute moron?”

“Ooh, now you’re pushing it.” She laughed and nudged his shoulder. “I’m kidding, Sokka. You’re in the same class, right? So, you have to share some interests. Just open with something simple like that. And I know it seems basic, but you can never go wrong with just saying, ‘hey’.”

“Okay. That helps a lot.” For once, he wasn’t being sarcastic. He’d been overthinking it so badly, and Katara’s easy answer helped him put things into perspective. “Thanks, Katara. I’ll just go try that then.”

“All right. Tell me how it went in the morning.”

Sokka only smiled and nodded before running back into his room next door, closing the door before he hopped back into his desk chair. Katara was right. He just needed to say something simple. Say hi and ring up one of their common interests. Except he didn’t know what any of Zuko’s interests were. All he knew was that they were in the same class, possibly not by choice or interest in the field, and they were apparently both LGBT+ and both interested in each other’s looks. It was stupid to comment on that, right? That was stupid.

He did it anyway.

**_kuliktanas, 11:48 P.M._ **

_hey! i like your pride flag, i have one above my bed too_

**_kuliktanas, 11:49 P.M._ **

_it’s a bi flag though_

**_kuliktanas, 11:50 P.M._ **

_because i’m bi_

**_kuliktanas, 11:51 P.M._ **

_but you probably already figured that out because of my sweatshirt_

**_kuliktanas, 11:52 P.M._ **

_shit, sorry, i swear to god i’m not trying to be annoying_

**_kuliktanas, 11:53 P.M._ **

_although, my sister would probably argue that point_

**_kuliktanas, 11:54 P.M._ **

_sorry you’re probably doing hw right? sorry_

And he did exactly what Katara said not to. He tried to connect on something he knew they had in common and _immediately_ allowed it to devolve into his own awkward babbling. Sokka sighed and reached up to chew on his thumbnail. At that point, he might as well just close his laptop and flop down into bed. There was no way that Zuko would ever want to respond to him after those awful, embarrassing messages. He shook his head reaching forward to push down the lid of his laptop but stopped when the little notification bell went off again.

**_shibataz, 11:55 P.M._ **

_Thanks, my uncle bought my pride flag for me after I came out last year. :)_

**_kuliktanas, 11:55 P.M._ **

_oh, cool!! mine was from my sister_

**_shibataz, 11:57 P.M._ **

_That’s nice. Do you still see her often?_

**_kuliktanas, 11:58 P.M._ **

_every day, dorms are expensive as shit so i’m still hanging around with her and my dad lmao_

**_kuliktanas, 11:58 P.M._ **

_what about you? roommates or anything?_

**_shibataz, 11:59 P.M._ **

_Nope, also can’t afford the dorms. I live with my uncle._

**_shibataz, 12:00 A.M._ **

_So, are you studying science?_

**_kuliktanas, 12:01 A.M._ **

_sort of?? i’m minoring in computer sci but my major is in mechanical engineering_

**_kuliktanas, 12:01 A.M._ **

_what about you? you don’t seem too enthralled by our assignments, if you don’t mind me saying_

**_shibataz, 12:03 A.M._ **

_Lol no this is just for credit, I’m majoring in child development with minors in English and theatre._

**_kuliktanas, 12:05 A.M._ **

_oh sweet! do you like working with kids then?_

**_shibataz, 12:06 A.M._ **

_Not really sure, I’ve never gotten the chance to try it._

**_shibataz, 12:06 A.M._ **

_I guess I just like the idea that I could make a difference in their lives._

**_kuliktanas, 12:08 A.M._ **

_oh i get u! i used to teach youth classes at my dojo and it’s always so great to see how you can impact their lives_

**_shibataz, 12:09 A.M._ **

_You do martial arts?_

**_kuliktanas, 12:10 A.M._ **

_yeah my friend suki got me into karate a few years back but i’ve always been more of a weapons man myself haha_

**_shibataz, 12:11 A.M._ **

_What kind of weapons?_

**_kuliktanas, 12:11 A.M._ **

_i’m trained in swords, clubs, and boomerangs (my personal favorite)_

**_shibataz, 12:12 A.M._ **

_Cool._

**_shibataz, 12:12 A.M._ **

_I wield dual dao._

Sokka’s eyes went wide. He was pretty, nice, gay, _and_ he was a swordsman? Zuko was the whole package. More than the whole package. In the beginning, Sokka’s attraction was based solely on aesthetics and the guy’s kind comments and little smiley faces, but that wasn’t it anymore. It went far beyond that because _Zuko was a swordsman_. Sokka was aching to ask for a picture, but he resisted the urge. It was still too soon for that. If Zuko wanted to send him something then that was cool, but he wouldn’t pressure him. But he would encourage him a little bit.

Though he didn’t have his swords nearby, Sokka did have his boomerang on his desk and quickly grabbed it, adjusting his hair before taking a quick picture with his webcam. It was sloppy and the science pun on his t-shirt was corny as hell, but it didn’t matter. He wanted to share his favorite thing with the nice boy, and he was going to do that. Just after he figured out what to caption the spontaneous photograph of his stupid, sleepy, bisexual ass.

**_kuliktanas, 12:15 A.M._ **

_sweet!! i’ve always wanted to learn how to wield dual swords_

**_kuliktanas, 12:16 A.M._ **

_i don’t have my swords on me but this is my boomerang!!_

_[View Attachment]_

**_kuliktanas, 12:16 A.M._ **

_i’ve had it since i was four so it’s a little busted up but i love it haha_

**_shibataz, 12:18 A.M._ **

_Nice, it’s very well crafted. Sharp edges._

**_shibataz, 12:18 A.M._ **

_You have a really pretty smile._

That was absolutely the wrong time to take a sip of his drink. Sokka promptly spit out his water all over the floor, barely turning away from his laptop before he could shower his screen in surprise. In response to his picture, the _only_ thing he expected was possibly a photo of Zuko’s blades. He hadn’t even realized he was smiling when he grabbed his boomerang and suddenly, he felt his entire face going warm. Not out of embarrassment this time, however. No, this time it was out of the sheer joy he felt upon reading that comment.

It took too long to get himself coherent again, and he found himself typing and deleting a thousand messages. What was he supposed to say? He had no fucking idea how to flirt, and anything he tried in that regard was likely to bomb. Sokka wrote and deleted three more messages before the next one from Zuko came through, at which point Sokka was even _more_ confused and lost any semblance of an idea as to how to respond. He bit down on the edge of his lip, slipping his glasses on before leaning in closer to the screen.

**_shibataz, 12:20 A.M._ **

_Please disregard that last message I’m a little tipsy._

**_kuliktanas, 12:21 A.M._ **

_i don’t remember drinking anything but i guess i must be too bc i was abt to say the same thing abt yours_

**_shibataz, 12:24 A.M._ **

_:)_

**_shibataz, 12:24 A.M._ **

_I didn’t even send a picture._

**_kuliktanas, 12:25 A.M._ **

_u were smiling in the one u posted for this week’s discussion board_

**_shibataz, 12:26 A.M._ **

_Was I?_

**_kuliktanas, 12:27 A.M._ **

_yes you were smiling at one of your lizards_

**_shibataz, 12:27 A.M._ **

_Oh._

**_shibataz, 12:28 A.M._ **

_You like the lizards, right?_

**_kuliktanas, 12:28 A.M._ **

_yes they’re beautiful_

**_shibataz, 12:29 A.M._ **

_Hold on a sec._

Sokka convinced himself that his leg was bouncing because the Ritalin was wearing off and not because he was just that excited to see what Zuko was going to show him. He stared at his screen in anticipation, eventually giving up and wandering off to get himself a new drink while he was waiting. Zuko was taking a long time to send whatever it was he was going to send, and it left Sokka space to pace around the entire house twice before he sat down again, slowly sipping away at his drink.

It had to be something great. That, or Zuko was ghosting him for some reason because he was a disaster and made a mistake somewhere. Suddenly, Sokka found his heart racing again, and he nearly sent a question mark, before Zuko finally sent his picture through. He was holding his dao blades in front of his left eye, a lizard crawling up the front of them. Thanks to where the blades were raised, Sokka could only see half his small smile, but it gave him so much serotonin he felt like he might not sleep for a week. He grinned and reached for the keyboard.

**_kuliktanas, 12:41 A.M._ **

_that is adorable_

**_kuliktanas, 12:42 A.M._ **

_and so is your lizard ;)_

**_shibataz, 12:42 A.M._ **

_:)_

**_kuliktanas, 12:43 A.M._ **

_only problem is that i can only see half ur beautiful face ;D_

**_shibataz, 12:43 A.M._ **

_Sorry._

**_kuliktanas, 12:44 A.M._ **

_no no it’s fine!! just joking lol_

**_kuliktanas, 12:46 A.M._ **

_we all have our good sides. right?_

**_kuliktanas, 12:49 A.M._ **

_i usually show off my left, i think my freckles look more balanced that way_

**_kuliktanas, 12:53 A.M._ **

_sorry, i know i have a really stupid sense of humor_

**_kuliktanas, 12:58 A.M._ **

_we should probably go to bed, huh?_

**_kuliktanas, 1:01 A.M._ **

_i’ll talk to you later, i hope_

Though he mentioned going to bed, Sokka made no move to stand up. Instead, he slammed his laptop shut and dropped his head right down onto the desk in front of him. Yup, he did it again. He couldn’t get through one goddamn conversation without embarrassing himself or driving someone away. It was a miracle he ever managed to get two girlfriends during high school and no wonder he’d never had one boyfriend since coming out. He was a failure at talking to people and especially flirting with them, and there was no hope at fixing it.

He groaned and rose to his feet, finally flopping back over into his pillows. Sokka laid face down on the mattress, banging his head into the fluff repeatedly. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_. All he had to do was hold _one_ conversation and he was such a fucking idiot, he couldn’t even figure out what he said wrong. Zuko was still online when he left, so he hadn’t gone to bed, but he ignored everything. Every word Sokka said to get through to him was ignored and left on “read” and that was basically a guarantee that they’d never get to talk to each other again.

The next morning, it took all Sokka’s effort just to drag himself out of bed. He didn’t bother getting dressed before he headed into the kitchen, letting out a deep sigh as he slid into his seat. Immediately, Katara turned around from where she was flipping her pancakes, giving him a look. Sokka only shook his head, trying to express the fact that he had no interest in explaining what happened, but it didn’t work. He promised Katara and update and she was never going to let him get away without one.

“Did you talk to him?” she asked, already turning back around to resume her work.

“Yeah, but I fucked it all up again.” Sokka dragged his hands down his face, slowly shaking his head. He still didn’t know what he did wrong, even after _hours_ of thinking about it while he tried to fall asleep and eventually drag himself out of bed, and it was eating away at him. “I made a stupid joke and I guess it wasn’t as innocent as I thought because it didn’t go over well.”

“What do you mean?”

“He ghosted me.”

“Shit.” Katara glanced over her shoulder, her brow furrowed. “What did you say to him?”

“I don’t know,” he grumbled. Honestly, Sokka didn’t know which line it was that drove Zuko away. “I made a joke about how he always hides his left side in his pictures, I guess. I don’t remember exactly but I said something like, ‘I can only see half your beautiful face’ and he apologized and then ghosted me. Did I come on too strong or something?”

“Maybe. Or maybe there’s a reason he doesn’t show his left side in pictures.” It wasn’t Katara who spoke that time, but Hakoda; standing in the kitchen doorway with a steaming cup of Labrador tea in his hands. “I take it you’re flirting with a cute boy in your class again?”

“You say that like there was a first time.”

“There have been lots of times. I think you just didn’t notice them all before.” Hakoda sighed and slid into the seat across the table from Sokka, giving Katara’s shoulder a squeeze as he passed by the stove. “Just give him some time to come around, Sokka. He might’ve just gone to bed, even. I know how late you stay up sometimes. Just be yourself, bud. You got a lot to love there.”

Sokka only nodded in response. He didn’t always feel like there was a lot to love about him, but he believed his dad. Maybe he was right. If he just waited, Zuko would come around. After all, there was every chance that he _was_ overreacting. It was almost one in the morning by the time Zuko vanished, and it was definitely a possibility that Zuko had just gone to bed and forgot to say something about it, but the little green dot by his name said he was still online. Unless he left his laptop open while he was sleeping and Sokka logged out before he was automatically kicked off?

He forced himself to stop thinking about all the possibilities when Katara slid some pancakes onto the table between him and their dad. It was sort of a Saturday morning tradition at that point, though they often took turns with who made the pancakes (even though Katara’s were by _far_ the best, sometimes she made them do the work instead). They were delicious and just distracting enough to keep him from thinking too hard about what happened with Zuko. He didn’t _really_ have to feel bad, right? It wasn’t like he did anything on purpose.

But he couldn’t clear his guilty conscience regardless. Sokka read and reread the messages he sent what must’ve been a hundred times over, trying desperately to identify exactly when he’d fucked up. It was impossible to tell, with how suddenly Zuko disappeared, and how mundane each of Sokka’s comments felt in his own mind. It just didn’t make sense. There was something he was missing and until he figured out what it was, he wouldn’t get his answer. Sokka almost sent another message to Zuko to apologize but realized he didn’t know what he was apologizing for and opted not to. If Zuko wanted to respond, that was his business. Sokka wouldn’t pressure him into anything.

So, instead of saying anything, Sokka just let it go. He said nothing and waited hopefully for Zuko’s next message. But there was nothing. Hours of homework turned into days of waiting and suddenly, an entire week had gone by. At that point, Sokka was pretty much moved on, having accepted that whatever their night of conversation was, it wasn’t the connection he thought. But then he signed into his school account to turn in an essay and froze when he saw the little notification on the messaging system.

**_shibataz, 10:14 P.M._ **

_Sorry I ghosted you._

**_shibataz, 10:16 P.M._ **

_Your left side is nice._

The fact that Zuko was so awkward and bad at flirting made Sokka a thousand times more comfortable with his own goofy way of talking. He smiled and reached for his keyboard, typing out several messages and deleting them, despite how stunted and vague of a message he was responding to. Zuko being socially awkward didn’t make Sokka any less socially awkward, it just made him marginally less aware of how weird he sounded and how dumb his jokes were.

**_kuliktanas, 11:24 P.M._ **

_thanks, i’m sure yours is nice too :)_

**_shibataz, 11:26 P.M._ **

_Not really._

**_kuliktanas, 11:27 P.M._ **

_sorry did i say something wrong?? i didn’t mean to_

**_shibataz, 11:29 P.M._ **

_It’s fine, don’t worry about it._

**_kuliktanas, 11:30 P.M._ **

_i really do think you’re beautiful_

Zuko left him on read again. For several long minutes, Sokka waited to see if he would respond, but he didn’t. He said nothing that night, he said nothing in the morning, and he went on saying nothing until a whole other week passed them by. At that point, they were nearing the end of the semester, and Sokka had all but given up hope. He didn’t think about Zuko that much anymore, only when he scrolled past his name or found himself trying again to solve the mystery of what he’d done wrong.

It had to be that he came on too strong. That was it. Nothing else would explain why Zuko ghosted him not once, but _twice_. That, or Zuko was just a big, gigantic jerk and was just messing with him for fun. But that didn’t explain why he disappeared so suddenly both times. Did he just get bored of the mundane conversation and decide that Sokka wasn’t worth trolling? Sokka tried asking his family for their opinions on it, but they just circled around to the same things over and over again. He was busy with school or didn’t feel the connection or just didn’t want to talk about whatever was going on.

So, after a long several weeks of pining, Sokka called it quits.

There was no point in chasing after a boy who didn’t want him. Did he still look beautiful in each one of his pictures? Yes. Did he still sound perfect in every post he made? Yes. But he clearly wanted nothing to do with Sokka and if that was the case, then Sokka didn’t have to sit around and take the heartbreak. They’d barely spoken in the first place, so it wasn’t like he had much to feel heartbroken over in the first place. Their whole connection was just something in his head; reading in too deeply to meaningless comments left on his homework in an attempt to be nice.

By the time the last week of classes rolled around, Sokka wasn’t even thinking about Zuko anymore. The only time the pretty boy crossed his mind was when he happened to scroll past one of his discussion board posts, and even then, he didn’t stop to think about him for more than a few seconds. All he was thinking about were his finals and the last-minute assignments and extra credit that he had to turn in before Monday night. He spent hours working each night, studying, and taking quizzes, and revising essay upon essay. It was one of those nights when he got the notification.

When Sokka first saw it, he ignored it. He was knee-deep in a study guide and he didn’t have time to stop. When he finally finished, he clicked on the alarm bell only to find that the message was from Zuko. Zuko, the beautiful, nice boy who ghosted him twice and hadn’t spoken to him in weeks. Zuko, the guy who wouldn’t so much as explain why he didn’t want to talk anymore. Sokka hesitated before clicking on the notification, not wanting to go through the same rounds of guilt and disappointment that he felt after their last two conversations, but he managed to go for it, if only because the subject of the message read, “You can ignore this if you want”.

**_shibataz, 9:59 P.M._ **

_I just got a new lizard and I remembered you said you liked them. I thought you might want to see her._

_[View Attachment]_

Sokka’s jaw dropped when he clicked on the attachment. It was just a picture, the same way Zuko had taken them for class. He was positioned on the floor in front of his bed, his pride flag visible in the background. On his person, he wore pale gray sweatpants, a dark red, oversized sweater, and a pale tan scrunchie with teacups and green leaves on it. His nails were painted a shining black, a new lizard crawling across the back of his hand and a familiar one on his shoulder. But none of that was what Sokka was looking at. No, he was focused on the fact that, for the first time in four months, Zuko allowed his left side to be photographed.

All across his left eye, stretching down to his cheekbone and back around his ear, was one of the worst burn scars that Sokka had ever seen. He tried to think of how something so centered, so _deliberate_ , could’ve even happened, but he couldn’t figure it out. Not without focusing on the painful implications which came with his second thought. So, instead of focusing on that, he shook himself off and let his focus drift to Zuko as a whole and the way he smiled at his lizards. He looked a little anxious, but the tiny smile from the lizard tickling his hand was too cute to turn away from.

It made sense. Of course, Hakoda was right all along. The reason Zuko kept ghosting him was the same reason he wouldn’t photograph the left side of his face—he thought Sokka wouldn’t like him anymore if he knew. But he did. A scar didn’t change the fact that he was beautiful and kind and way too cool with all his dao blades and all Sokka wanted to do was tell him that, but he couldn’t find the right words. He wrote and rewrote too many messages, only to find himself returning back to their roots. To the simple compliments that brought them together in the first place.

**_kuliktanas, 10:40 P.M._ **

_i like your scrunchie :)_

**_shibataz, 10:41 P.M._ **

_:) Do you like tea?_

**_shibataz, 10:41 P.M._ **

_Not because of the scrunchie._

**_shibataz, 10:42 P.M._ **

_My uncle has a tea shop._

**_kuliktanas, 10:43 P.M._ **

_oh nice! i haven’t had a lot of tea but i do like it_

**_shibataz, 10:44 P.M._ **

_What kinds have you tried?_

**_kuliktanas, 10:46 P.M._ **

_mostly labrador (my dad’s favorite) but my gran gran makes a mean cloudberry lol_

**_shibataz, 10:47 P.M._ **

_Cloudberry??_

**_kuliktanas, 10:48 P.M._ **

_yeah they’re kinda like raspberries but way better. they don’t grow in a lot of places_

**_kuliktanas, 10:49 P.M._ **

_i usually only get them when we go up north to visit my gran gran_

**_shibataz, 10:50 P.M._ **

_Oh, nice. I’ll have to ask my uncle if he’s heard of it._

**_shibataz, 10:51 P.M._ **

_His favorites are jasmine and ginseng._

**_shibataz, 10:52 P.M._ **

_I’m more of a coffee guy myself but don’t tell him I said that._

**_kuliktanas, 10:52_ **

_don’t worry, your secret’s safe w me ;)_

**_shibataz, 10:53 P.M._ **

_Thanks, I don’t really want to get disowned a second time, haha._

**_kuliktanas, 10:53 P.M._ **

_< 3_

**_shibataz, 10:54 P.M._ **

_Sorry, that was a weird thing to say._

**_kuliktanas, 10:55 P.M._ **

_it’s okay_

**_shibataz, 10:55 P.M._ **

_No, I didn’t mean to make this uncomfortable, sorry._

**_kuliktanas, 10:56 P.M._ **

_my mom is dead_

**_shibataz, 10:57 P.M._ **

_Holy shit, I’m so sorry._

**_kuliktanas, 10:57 P.M._ **

_it’s fine. now it’s uncomfortable for both of us_

**_shibataz, 10:58 P.M._ **

_Do you know where Redwood St is?_

**_kuliktanas, 10:58 P.M._ **

_yes?_

**_shibataz, 10:59 P.M._ **

_My uncle’s shop is on the corner of Redwood and Bay._

**_shibataz, 11:00 P.M._ **

_We’re open 7am - 8pm on Saturdays._

**_shibataz, 11:00 P.M._ **

_If you’re not busy or anything._

**_kuliktanas, 11:00 P.M._ **

_:D_

**_shibataz, 11:01 P.M._ **

_Is that a yes?_

**_kuliktanas, 11:01 P.M._ **

_only if i’m allowed to flirt w the cute tea server ;)_

**_kuliktanas, 11:02 P.M._ **

_…you are a server, right?_

**_shibataz, 11:02 P.M._ **

_Yeah. :)_

**_kuliktanas, 11:03 P.M._ **

_i’ll see you in the morning? :D_

**_shibataz, 11:03 P.M._ **

_:) <3_

When Sokka stood up to flop into his pillows this time, it was not to fall asleep and forget what happened. Instead, it was to let out a scream of excitement into a place where it would be muffled and not wake his family. He had a date. He had a date with a really nice, really cool, really beautiful boy at a _tea shop_ of all places. It didn’t get sweeter than that. For once, instead of being kept awake by anxiety or fears, Sokka was kept awake only by the excitement coursing through his veins as he played through the possibilities of what might happen when they met.

Somehow, he managed to finally fall asleep, though it wasn’t entirely restful, and he found himself waking up twice as his brain contemplated things without him. After conking out for the last time, Sokka was finally able to get up and function as a semi-regular human being, and practically bounced out into the kitchen. He rejected an offer for breakfast, going straight for the shoe rack and pulling his dark blue sneakers on over his snowflake-covered socks (they were no teacup scrunchie, but he thought Zuko might get a kick out of them) _._

“Hey.” Of course, nothing could ever be easy, and Sokka was stopped by Hakoda at the door. He turned around, one hand still clinging to the doorknob. “Where you going this early on a Saturday?”

“I, uh—” Sokka awkwardly wet his lips, glancing down to his shoes. It was better to be honest, right? He should be honest. “You remember that guy I was talking to that kept ghosting me? He kind of, sort of invited me to meet him at his uncle’s tea shop today, so. I thought I might go over there for a bit. Unless you guys need me for something here because I wouldn’t want to—”

“Absolutely not.” Before he knew what was happening, Katara was practically shoving him out the door, her hands on either of his shoulders. “Go meet him. Just don’t call him a little girl and don’t ask him to do any activities and you’ll be fine.”

“Okay, for one thing, I never called Suki a ‘little’ girl. And for another, the activity thing totally got me a date with—”

“ _Go._ ”

Sokka rolled his eyes jokingly as he slid out the door, flipping his keys around in his hand. It wasn’t a long drive to the Jasmine Dragon—the tea shop Zuko’s uncle owned, according to Google Maps—which meant he had mere minutes until he would arrive and be face-to-face with the boy he’d been lowkey flirting with since the beginning of the semester. He brushed his sweaty palms against the front of his jeans, taking a deep breath before he hopped on his bike. Slippery hands when you were driving 55mph on a two-wheeler wasn’t a great idea.

Though he tried his best to stay calm, Sokka’s heart continued to race faster the closer he got to his destination, and by the time he pulled into the parking lot, there were so many butterflies in his stomach he thought he might throw up. Regardless, Sokka let out a deep exhale and pushed himself to walk over to the door, giving himself one more mental pep talk before he pushed it open; nearly leaping out of his shoes when he heard the bell above his head. What a great way to make a first impression, he thought, but thankfully, it didn’t look like anyone had seen.

It wasn’t ten seconds after Sokka walked into the shop that he identified the place Zuko took the pictures which didn’t include his pride flag. He must’ve been taking them on his shift or something because the wall right behind the counter was uncanny. Aside from the wall, there were many teas and mugs and pots behind the counter, as well as an older man who was a bit shorter and a bit rounder than Sokka himself. Zuko’s uncle, he assumed, before glancing around the rest of the shop. He couldn’t stop the smile when he turned to his left.

Zuko was standing on the far side of the shop near a booth beside the window, taking someone’s order with a notepad in his hands. He was wearing a green and tan uniform, his hair pulled back into a bun which was notably nicer than when he was alone with his experiments. On his face were the chunky glasses from some of his pictures, and his feet a pair of black boots that didn’t quite match his uniform. For some reason, Sokka found himself fixated on the fact that Zuko was apparently left-handed, his fingers gliding across the page until he forced a small smile for the customer and finally turned away.

Their eyes met the moment he turned and finally, Sokka was able to admire his gaze. Zuko’s eyes were a deep amber, nearly brown, but they almost shone in the bright lights of the shop. He froze dead in his tracks, staring at Sokka as if he hadn’t quite expected him to actually come and bouncing a little on his feet like he didn’t know how to proceed. Sokka awkwardly lifted a hand, smiling before he stuffed his hands back into his pockets and took two steps forward. He was stuck. Captivated. Clueless as to how he was meant to communicate with someone so beautiful.

“Hey,” was the word that he managed to get out of his mouth, shifting back and forth from his heels to the balls of his feet. He glanced around the shop when Zuko didn’t respond, only staring at him as if he were afraid or expected something else.

“Hi.” His voice was deep and gravelly and a little stunted when he spoke, his hand not holding the notepad reaching up to pull a loose hair behind his ear. “Can I— can I get you thomething, or…?”

“How about a smile?”

It was tacky as shit but somehow, it worked. Zuko’s lips curled upward as he looked down to his shoes, gripping onto his notepad and pen. He glanced back up to Sokka, giving him a moment to admire his bright, beautiful smile before turning away again. Of course, Sokka couldn’t help but smile too, and that was how they ended up standing there in the middle of the shop, grinning at each other like a couple of stupid gay disasters instead of actually communicating. Sokka decided to take the plunge.

“Any chance you got a date with a cute boy back there too?” he asked, knowing full well that he’d just said something almost stupider than he had to Yue. “Okay, sorry, that was tacky as shit. You want to try starting over or should I just leave?”

“No, don’t leave.” Zuko took a step forward, biting down on the corner of his lips and playing with the loose hair behind his right ear. “You’re right about the tacky but I think it’th cute. I’m really awkward too, tho— s—so. Thorry. _Fuck,_ sorry. I’m not— I don’t usually do that anymore, I just—”

“It comes out when you’re anxious?” It wasn’t hard to figure out. Sokka’s own heart was still racing, his fingers twisting around each other. He let out a soft chuckle, glancing down before he met Zuko’s eyes again. “I do that too. Not with lisping, but with like, babbling. It’s kind of a nervous habit, I guess. I just get on these tangents and then I can’t get myself to stop and I don’t really know why but nobody ever calls me out when I’m doing it, so sometimes I don’t even realize that I am until—”

“Until someone gives you that look that says they zoned out five minutes ago?” He laughed uncomfortably, messing with the notepad and pen in his hands. “People uthed— _used_ to do that to me a lot. They thtill do s—sometimes. I get on these really dumb rants about theater and th— _stuff_ and— well, you know the rest.”

“Zuko.” It wasn’t until he actually said something when Sokka realized that Zuko’s uncle was not so subtly watching them from behind the counter. His voice was gentle and encouraging, the look on his face filled with love and care. “Come here and bring me those orders, please.”

It took a moment, but Zuko nodded and held up a finger to let Sokka know he would be right back before he turned and walked over to the counter. Sokka took the time to sit down at one of the booths near the window, trying hard not to watch as Zuko talked to his uncle. It was obvious that they weren’t just talking about tea and based on the way Zuko’s uncle spoke looked to him and Zuko himself kept nodding, Sokka had a feeling he knew what it was about. Zuko’s uncle was trying to get him to relax, and somehow, it seemed to work.

After another minute, Zuko walked back over to Sokka, smiling, and biting down on his lip again before he slid into the booth across from him. Again, they were locked in a moment of stupid gay panic; staring at each other and smiling instead of saying anything like they should have. Clearly, they were both far better at communicating behind a screen, though sitting there, face-to-face, Sokka felt happier than he had in a long time. How could he not be? He was on a date with a cute boy in a tea shop. It didn’t get any sweeter than that.

“My uncle is making us his favorite tea,” said Zuko, tugging on a strand of his hair. He leaned an elbow onto the table between them, glancing out the window to his left. He wasn’t great at maintaining eye contact, Sokka realized, but he didn’t mind. He wasn’t too good at it either. “I like your gla— your glasses. I don’t think I said that before.”

There it was. Finally, they were back in their goofy little range of comfort. Sokka couldn’t help but smile again. It was the stupidest thing in the world, the way they complimented each other in such a simple little way, but he loved it more than anything. It was cute and soft, and it made him happy and he didn’t care that there was little thought into it because they were both awkward and bad at flirting and the silly way of communicating made it so much easier to talk. To remember how they met. Sokka chuckled and nudged Zuko’s chin, urging him to meet his gaze.

“I like your eyes,” he said, entirely aware of how dorky he sounded, “and your smile too.”

Zuko bit down on his lip again, looking away to hide his blush. “I like yours too.”

They should have kept going. They should have talked more and flirted more but instead, they just smiled at each other; their gazes awkwardly shifting around because every time their eyes met, they got all stupid and giggly again. They didn’t say anything else before Zuko’s uncle walked over with their tea, an oddly pleased look on his own face. He slid the mugs in front of each of them before silently pouring the tea. Zuko’s hands slid around the mug in an almost habitual motion, gripping onto the sides of it while his uncle filled it with the warm drink.

It took a little too long for them to get into a rhythm, but a few minutes after Zuko’s uncle walked away, Sokka was finally able to get Zuko into a place where he seemed comfortable talking. They started with their shared science class but somehow it evolved into discussing their majors which turned into talking more about their minors, and _that_ was when Sokka unlocked one of Zuko’s aforementioned tangents. He was passionate about child development, but it wasn’t until they got on to theater when he really started to babble.

Admittedly, Sokka didn’t know what half the plays he was rambling about were, but he thought Zuko was so cute and passionate, he didn’t want to interrupt him to ask. Instead, he only nodded as Zuko went on, eagerly answering prompted questions and eventually slipping into a groove where he was so comfortable, his little lisp started to come out again which captivated Sokka even more. At least, until Zuko suddenly apologized for talking so much and said something that managed to get Sokka off on his own tangent about engineering.

Though he hadn’t intended to be there longer than breakfast, it turned out Sokka had a lot to talk to Zuko about and somehow, they ended up talking for hours. Zuko’s uncle—Iroh, as Sokka learned at some point during their seemingly endless conversation—occasionally walked over to pour them more tea but otherwise, no one interrupted, and they were able to talk and flirt as much as they wanted. And when they finally had to part ways, to admit that Sokka had too much studying to finish and Zuko had to get back to work as the shop got more crowded, they exchanged numbers and dragged out their goodbye.

Sokka was already out the door when Zuko suddenly called after him, actually chasing him out the tea shop and down the sidewalk. Zuko stood frozen for a few seconds when Sokka turned around, before he suddenly stepped forward, took the front of Sokka’s shirt in his hand, and pulled him in for a kiss. It was brief and soft and a little awkward and neither of them knew what to do with their hands, but it was lovely and perfect and everything he ever could’ve asked for. When they pulled apart, he placed a hand on Zuko’s right cheek and kissed him once more, promising he would visit Zuko and the Jasmine Dragon again.

Not that he really had to make that promise, of course, because when he logged into his school site to study an hour later, there was already a message waiting for him.

**_shibataz, 12:31 P.M._ **

_P.S. I like you. :)_


End file.
